The Kunoichi Who Tried to Save Everyone
by garbageliteracy
Summary: Naruto is my little brother, and it doesn't matter how badly I don't want to interfere with the plot, I will destroy anyone who thinks they can harm him. Orochimaru, The Akatsuki, Uchiha Madara. My name is Uzumaki Kazuko, and this is the story of my second life. Self-Insert, AU.
1. Introduction, Harmony

The Kunoichi Who Tried to Save Everyone

Naruto is my little brother, and it doesn't matter how badly I don't want to interfere with the plot, I will destroy anyone who thinks they can harm him. Orochimaru, The Akatsuki, Uchiha Madara. My name is Uzumaki Kazuko, and this is the story of my second life. Self-Insert, AU.

I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto does...for now.

Introduction: Harmony調和

In my first life, I was born Tanya Beauregard, the only daughter of a prominent french diplomat. My childhood was as lackluster and cliche as any. I never knew my mother, she'd died when I was born, and I knew it haunted my dad. It was why he always looked at me like _that._ Like he was seeing her ghost. Haunted...that's the word. I could never voice my observations, could never sit down and talk it out with him, not with my anxiety. Oh well, past is the past. Onward with the story.

He avoided me throughout my life, dodging all contact except letters, not wanting to see _her,_ or hear _her._ How sad is it that I hadn't even know my mother's name? He was too pained to even speak it. _Ridiculous._ Understandable, but ridiculous. Thinking about it makes me want to spit. I was raised by my nanny Katie, a polite, christian girl, who instilled many selfless values into me. If not for her, my soul probably would have been corrupted by loneliness and depression. Other than Katie, I had no one, she was my mother, my father, my best friend, and my teacher.

It's a surprise I didn't turn out socially stifled, but the few times I did see my father, It was during dinners with foreign dignitaries. Katie was forced to school me in etiquette, charisma, and multiple languages throughout my 18 years of being Tanya Beauregard. I never got the _chance_ to be socially awkward.

My sanity thrived off of anime and fanfiction.

Until one day, believe it or not, I died. Well...to be more clear: Tanya Beauregard died. I had a dinner with my father's best friend, who may as well have been my Uncle, and his daughter, who (in all honesty) was a whore. She'd spent the entire dinner conversation blathering on about her bladder infection which she got from having too much sex with her current boyfriend. Yep. She straight up spoke about _that_ at dinner. In front of her father. The _Japanese_ prime minister.

Are you surprised that I wandered away from such riveting dinner conversation to gaze at the beautiful ocean? I'd seen the giant rock in the water, so I didn't make any moves, thinking, there's no way the captain would miss it. Instead, I began daydreaming of how I would get home, soak in the tub, and watch some Shippuden reruns. I'm so lame, I'd been thinking of Naruto, when a freaking boulder is splitting the side of the ship. You _know_ you're a nerd (and idiot) when your dying thought is of _anime._

My heels caused my feet to slip the second I tried to run towards the dining cabin. I knew the feminine death traps would be the end of me. I never wore them unless I was going out with my dad. Even now, I kind of blame him for it all. What happens next isn't pretty...but I'm not going to sugarcoat my own memories. I gain nothing from lying, so I can only say it straight up.

I slipped off the side of the boat, my stick-like figure sliding straight through the bars, and being practically _dragged_ beneath the current. I didn't have anything even resembling that of a fighting chance. The second the waves pulled me under, my head hit the sharp front of the boat, and with a sickening crack that I somehow heard, Tanya Beauregard was no more.

Death is worth it to not have to hear that god-forsaken girl chatter on anymore about her bladder. Kidding. Mostly.

My second life began as someone both familiar and yet unknown to me at the same time. Uzumaki Kazuko. Did the last name catch your eye? You're thinking, woah, no way, she's related to Naruto now that she died, like a dream! Um, more like a _nightmare_! I blinked a couple of times, opening my numb mouth, my new body only very slowly connecting to my soul. I'd never felt anything like it.

In the seconds of whiteness between my death in those frothy waves to my rebirth that moment, it felt as though my _personality_ was being...scrubbed from me. I still held all the memories of Tanya Beauregard luckily, but the feelings accompanying them...were entirely gone. Heartfelt moments of my development through life brought forth nothing when I thought about it. I clenched and unclenched my hand, getting used to this new body, whoever it was, this... _new_ sensation.

Honestly, I suppose I'm lucky that I was able to experience my second life without being...depressed and suicidal all the time, about never smelling the cinnamon and honey suits my father always wore again. The scent was his trademark, and many praised him when it greeted their nostrils. It associated him with good things. Though damaged and distant, though the reason for my death, every instinct I'd ever known was aware of his intelligence. It was what brought him to his position of power, after all. I would also have grieved over my loss of Katie too much to move on as Kazuko. She'd been a parent in every way she could to me. Her social life was nonexistent at first, having started babysitting me when I was 5 and she was 21.

My eyes must have been clouded over, because my gaze was certainly unfocused, however, I could hear great with _unbelievably_ sensitive ears this time around, and I most definitely identified the sounds of a woman and man teasing me in japanese. _Thank god for Katie's strict ass language lessons, or i'd be screwed._

"Kazuko-Chan's a little dreamer like her Tou-Chan, isn't that right?"

Imagine my _shock_ when I was met with the faces of Minato and Kushina _themselves_ just inches above me, finally connecting the dots of what was really going on. And then, when I stupidly looked down, I had to swallow a few times to keep from screaming like my body so wished to do. _Baby. Body. Baby body. I am in a baby._ I knew I died. I knew I heard the word Uzumaki. I knew that I was in a new body. And now, I knew I was in a baby body of all things. I knew so many things and yet….I had so many unanswered questions.

Teething. Potty training. A whole new life. The Kyuubi. My parents imminent demise. A million things ran through my mind. The future coming of my little brother, since it was clear that I was the only infant in the room, and the _day_ everything would change. Obito would show up and threaten Naruto or something and then Kurama would get released and then to save the village, Kushina and Minato would finalize the plot by dying and sealing him inside of Naruto. The whole entire beginning plot point...and here I was, his older, not-supposed to exist, all knowing sister.

"Pretty girl gets her looks from her Kaa-Chan, though, Kushina-Jr!" Minato cooed, tickling my chest with warm fingers.

My heart skipped a beat and I genuinely had no control over the impish giggles my body released. I was apparently an infant in every right. I knew that he would love me in ways my dad as Tanya never had. Even if only for a year or two, I craved paternal affection. And here it was. He seemed delighted with me, his eyes sparkling.

My new dad, _god damn Namikaze Minato himself,_ scooped me out of Kushina's soft hold, cuddling me to his chest, and burying my head under his chin like an animal, nuzzling me. I was a surprisingly big baby. My best guess for an explanation was my Uzumaki genes, and plus nothing went wrong with Kurama when it came to the development of this body from what I could deduce, like the premature birth Naruto would later have, so it made sense I would be an extra healthy baby.

Minato smells like firewood and lilac, if you can imagine.

I was in awe. I cuddled into him, a serene smile drifting over my features. And would you believe, that somehow, I fell asleep right then and there? Before I even got to got some one-on-one time with Kushina! Like I said, the baby body I was born in did what it wanted when it came to certain things, unfortunately. A few _really_ happy moments in the embrace of my new 'Tou-San' was enough to lull me into a coma-like state of sleep. I'd never slept so good in my entire life as Tanya Beauregard.

That first night in the Naruto world, in my second life, as Uzumaki Kazuko, I stayed up staring into the skylight of my nursery and at the star's littering the night. I thought about Kyuubi. I thought about Kushina and Minato dying. I thought about how I would _undoubtedly_ be forced to raise and shelter my little brother from the cruel civilians who blamed him for all the lost loved ones to Kurama, and how we would grow up in an orphanage, until Naruto started at the Academy and the Hokage would give us an apartment. I remembered how Naruto was beaten from shops with brooms and shunned by nearly everyone, taunted, exiled for nearly no reason. My chest hurt.

I thought about _everything._ I was a baby who knew her entire future ahead of her. There were plans to be made if I wanted to survive.

Ideally, doing absolutely nothing to the plot, and living out my years as a seamstress or something would have been best for Kishimoto's story. However, it was no longer his story, at that point, it was my new life. I knew deep deep down that I couldn't just stand by and do nothing. I could feel the chakra everywhere. At first, I tried to ignore it, not knowing what it was, still figuring things out. But it made sense, once I connected the dots on where exactly I'd been reborn to. As soon as I knew what that feeling was in the air, I inhaled.

One breath in, and suddenly, in the darkness of my room, everything changed. I could hear the soft breaths of my parents in their room, I could hear the low singing of our apartment neighbour who was taking a shower late, I could hear the leaf's riding the breeze. I could smell the shampoo in the freshly cleaned carpets in my nursery, and the artificial watermelon that had somehow been ingrained in my baby bib. I dug my pudgy finger tips into the satin of my bed in my flare of anxiety at the experience, and then, I could feel the legs of the crib. I could feel the lengths of the floor, leading to the hall, to the kitchen, to the living room, to the field, and even to a nearby building that _smelled_ like Ichiraku's.

I exhaled.

Everything went away. That was...something else. My brain needed a break, it was weak, and tired all of a sudden, as if coming down from a high. When I woke up, I would have all the time in the world to contemplate what the _hell_ that had been, but as long as I ignored it, I could get some much needed sleep. After all, I needed to grow up to be big and strong if I wanted to live to see my nephew and niece, Boruto and Himawari.

Hopefully I could convince Naruto to change that god awful name. And Sakura too. Honestly. Boruto sounded like _Burrito_ , and Sarada literally made me think of 'Salad.' It was laughable. Out of all the amazing names in the Japanese language, that was the best they could do? Not while I'm around.

When I woke up, the morning sun casted a red glow upon my nursery in the shadow of Kushina's hair.

"Good morning, Kazuko-Chan. It's just me and you today. Tou-San's at work" she sounded sleepy, looking incredibly adorable having just woken up clearly. She bent down my crib and picked me up. I accidentally released a little cry of discomfort my eyes watering. But Kushina just hummed, calming me instantly like only a mother could. And before the draft of morning wind could so much as kiss me, I was buried in her red hair and soft skin, resting above her chest, her arms wrapped entirely around me like some kind of human pillow.

In that moment, I began to think, maybe, just maybe, my afterlife wasn't a nightmare. Surely it was a blessed dream and none of that dark nonsense I'd began planning for would come to fruition, since this was obviously my own form of heaven. I'd never been so happy. Hopefully, I lived in some kind of alternate universe, especially since I existed, and not Naruto, even if I'd originally assumed he was to be my little brother. I dismissed all my previous planning and buried myself in Kushina's embrace.

Of course, I was on the nose with that previous guess, not that I knew it at the time. My own childish desperation for 'happily ever after' deluded me into thinking that maybe things would be different.

I found out how wrong I was exactly one year later, when I woke up choking on chakra and being smothered by the scent of Kushina's blood, the sound of my newborn baby brother's screams deafening me, despite the distance between myself and the event I'd _knew_ would come. Despite my own wants and hopes.

Uchiha Mikoto, my babysitter for the evening, couldn't figure out why I shrieked like I was being burned alive. _Mommy is dying. Daddy is dying._

My first word is help. And the only person that hears it, I realize, is another dead woman walking. _Your son is going to kill you and your husband. Your son is going to kill you. Help. Help. Help. Help._

"Help" I don't hear the japanese word flowing off of my underdeveloped childish tongue, because instead, all I hear is the demonic barks of Kurama radiating throughout my skull. And I can't stop breathing so hard. Every inhale, and I see it even more vividly. The violence. The fear. The blood, oh god the blood. _Decay._

My name is Uzumaki Kazuko, and I am helpless in that moment.

* * *

 **AN** : Not the dreaded Naruto's Sister Cliche! Well I'm doing it, kiddies. Because I can. This fic is more of a challenge I've presented to myself. Every chapter of this, I'm going to sit down, and try _fully_ immerse myself in the story as well as possible, and really do myself to come up with thought provoking, realistic, interesting paragraphs for you all to read, and basically just write until my fingers hurt.

Anyways, let me know what you think of Kazuko. I'm considering placing her on an OC genin team, but if you guys have any inputs on what route I should take when it comes to placing her on a team, or also future pairing, then please let me know! I could put her wth Gai and Lee and Nei, but I did that on my other fic and got rid of Tenten, and got a couple hate-reviews I had to delete. Since she's gonna be a year or so older than Naruto.

I'll probably be updating in bursts, trying to get as much of this story done in as little amount of time as I can and then going of over it all later, but even my rushed drafts come out pretty good I think, considering I wrote this in about an hour. **Also** I chose the name 'Harmony' because that's what her Kazuko means.

Until next time!


	2. Chapter One

The Kunoichi Who Tried to Save Everyone

Naruto is my little brother, and it doesn't matter how badly I don't want to interfere with the plot, I will destroy anyone who thinks they can harm him. Orochimaru, The Akatsuki, Uchiha Madara. My name is Uzumaki Kazuko, and this is the story of my second life. Self-Insert, AU.

I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto does...for now.

Chapter One

Naruto spent the first year of his life in the hospital. I wasn't allowed visitations because they were still trying to stabilize his demonic seal (as I'd overheard with that nifty inhale-exhale super senses thing,) and I spent _my_ time alone in the orphanage. On my third birthday, a year and a half after our parents death's, I met the Hokage for the first time. Sarutobi Hiruzen in his white robed glory, arrived with only one ANBU agent by his side alone. But I knew better. When I took my first breath, I could feel the stretch of the floors, the expanse of the roof, and the ninja sandel's of a few other agent's resting upon said tiles. My feelings were conflicted. I tugged on my quarter length Kushina-crimson curls, sitting cross legged in my meditation pose on my playmat when he appeared.

Hiruzen's eyelids crinkled, accompanied by a grandfatherly smile.

He looked out of place in the run-down orphanage, and my head tilted of its own accord. I was quite obviously studying him, uncaring, since I was technically only two years old. 'Hokage' they called him, they worshipped him, I knew, and though he didn't _appear_ to be a bad man, I still regarded him with a clear frown. No. Not a bad man, but not a good man, either. There was no way I could look at his wrinkled, tanned, face without remembering how he'd covered up the truth, hid Minato's own children. _Mommy. Daddy. Burning. Karama. Mikoto. Help._ Sticking Naruto and I into an orphanage to wait until we were useful enough to acknowledge us. My chest had began to tighten as it so often did.

Of course, I wasn't supposed to know most of the things I did about the Hokage, so instead of glaring him out of the damn dimension like I wanted, I morphed my face into a mask one could only pull off after years of practice. As Tanya Beauregard, in my first life, I'd pretended to _adore_ even the worst people you could think of. There were times where my father introduced me to some...less than desirable company, and I couldn't afford to offend them. Just like I couldn't afford to offend Hiruzen. A powerful enemy to have, my head titled the other way, a powerful ally to have.

Life is what _you_ make it, right? It would all depend on how I made myself appear to him.

"Ahh, Kazuko-Chan" Hiruzen said as soon as he was within speaking distance of me " I know we have never met, but my name is Hiruzen. I'm the Hokage. I was a friend of your parents, and as such, for your duration here at the orphanage, I will be your legal guardian. I believe congratulations are in order. Happy birthday, dear."

 _Whenever people say 'Kazuko-Chan' I can't help but notice how_ _**ugly**_ _it sounds not coming from Kushina's lips,_

My hand shook and I bit my cheek to keep from saying anything, unable to pretend like that garbage he just spewed hadn't royally ticked me of. He didn't mean it. If he was so ready to call himself my guardian, how could be acknowledging giving me away in the same breath? The orphanage was a bad place. My mask never faltered, but my facade sure did. I wanted to tell him in detail just how he'd dishonored my dad, but that day would come once I'd grown some more.

He revealed a medium sized box, wooden, hand-made, fancy. On the top, my name was carved in Kanji, and my cheeks instantly bloomed the same shade of my hair as soon as I saw it. Before I could even begin to question him, he slid it open, revealing a small booklet. It was written-on, messy, collection of notebook pages, all held together by a paperclip. Right on the top page, in thicker ink it read 'Written by Jiraiya, Dedicated to Kazuko.' A story?

Hiruzen did the crinkly eye-smile thing again, placing it in my shaking grip.

"The box is my own little touch, and the papers are the first draft of one children's story I thought you might particularly enjoy, written by a fellow Konoha Shinobi" his voice was light and airy, as if he wasn't smoothing over the reality and basically dumbing down an extremely important two-year-old's gift. Even if his carved box was nice.

Liar, liar, stupid-grandpa robes on fire. What he should have told me, was that my godfather wrote a book for me, similar to how The Tale of The Utterly Gutsy Ninja was meant for Naruto. The truth, I mean. Were I any other lonely little orphan, such a familial gift, from a famous writer, being actually related to someone _powerful_ who cared about you, would mean the world. No wonder Naruto thought he had _absolutely nobody._

He seemed to falter at my lack of response, so with reluctance, I snapped into my people-pleaser mode that Katie had ground into me back before.

"It means a lot, Hokage-sama" my voice was impish and girly, my pale and chubby face the picture of innocence, disguising the disdain I held for him "can I see Naru-Kun yet?"

As I spoke, my memories flowed through me. A little boy with whiskers cleaning the great stoned faces after another terrible day of no one making a single difference in his life. "You're not even going to get home in time for dinner as this rate" Iruka had said, or something like that. Naruto's words were the ones the _really_ mattered. His face spotted with paint and sweat, still just an innocent kid, turned up to his sensei challengingly. "It's not like there's anyone waiting at home for me" he'd said.

Not anymore, Naruto. This time _I_ would be waiting at home for him. He was all I had left of Minato and Kushina, and main character of an anime or not, he was my brother for _real_. Now that I had turned two, I was going to persist until they let me see him. And how would Hiruzen say no to such a sweet little girl on her birthday? My false puppy dog eyes seemed to freeze him in place. Good. Crumble at my adorableness and take me to my brother, peasant.

After what seemed to be a few minutes but was probably only a few seconds of deliberation since he was clearly surprised my eloquence in the word department, that grandfatherly smile was back, and he ruffled my Kushina-like curls. I was born to be a prodigy, it was **ingrained** in my soul by Tanya's father. I twitched, smiling in an effort to hide my discomfort.

He lifted his hand.

"You're right" he sighed, his own grin never wavering "It's about time you met your baby brother, Kazuko-Chan."

Instead of jumping up and down and screaming like the girly two year old I was in excitement, since badass ANBU were present, I allowed myself a small victory squeak. With very precise and fluid movement, I fled from the Hokage to the exit where I knew one of the matron's that I liked resided. Ichigo-Chan was the daughter of the owner of the place, with soft pretty pink curls, and big blue eyes. A civilian seamstress in the making who often sewed me little presents to cheer me up. She didn't like seeing the other orphan's bully me, even if I didn't care. Ichigo was _nice._ The only real person I liked so far. Other than my parents, not that _that_ mattered, since they were already twelve feet under. Or they would've been if there had been anything to recover of their bodies.

I promptly placed the wooden box, now shut, in her hold and with a serious gaze, blabbered on my instructions for caring for it while I was gone.

"Where are you going, Kazu-Kun?" Ichigo wondered, a worry furrow in her brow, her fingers turning paler with their strong grip on the box when the Hokage came sweeping in the room after me, apparently amused that I'd left him there. Not that I cared. If I ever offended him, for the time being, it could be blamed on childish ignorance. Perks of being two years old.

"Gonna go see Naru!" I giggled, tugging on her floor length ringlets, and ignoring the way her facial expression darkened. He was only a year old and yet all the civilians already hated him. It made my stomach churn whenever I thought about it, so I tried not to. The Hokage apparently had no such disillusions, slapping a _too warm_ hand on my shoulder, and glaring at Ichigo until she literally withered on the spot.

"We'll be taking our leave, Ichigo" Hiruzen spoke sharply, apparently very aware for her distinct distaste for Naruto.

At least, even if I truly didn't like the geezer, it _was_ nice not to be the only one who wanted to defend my little brother. Even if he was only doing it out of guilt and even if Ichigo meant no harm. I tilted my head, one red strand of my own locks shoved in my mouth and being chewed on nervously, a new bad habit this body of Kazuko's seemed to somehow inherit.

* * *

 _Minato. Minato. Minato. Minato._

My heart breaks a little as Hiruzen hands me the blue bundle that looks so much like my Tou-San. I smiled through blurry eyes, sharing a vulnerable look with Hiruzen, overwhelmed by emotion as I looked down at his whiskered little blue eyed face, I inhaled, despite my previous disillusions about doing it near the Hokage.

My fingers showed me the tenketsu inside of him, the demonic chakra flowing through his veins, they showed me his entire _being_. I'd never done my little super sense thing, _which_ I was starting to suspect as nature chakra, while focusing intently on a living thing. It was strange. Were it any other person than my own kin, I had a feeling I wouldn't consider it so pleasant.

My nostrils flared and his _baby_ scent that, bless his little heart, mingled with lilac like _Minato's,_ made my own chakra flare with pure love.

"Hi, Naruto" I whispered, even though I was truly alone with Hiruzen, a fact that shocked me when I hadn't sensed _any_ ANBU, possibly because of the intimacy of the moment "I'm Kazuko. I'm your Onee-Chan" I wiggled one stubby finger on my free hand in his face, only for the infantile protagonist to latch on and suck with all the adorableness of any baby.

Naruto is no longer a character.  
Naruto is my baby brother.

"I'm gonna protect you no matter what" I cooed, some of the old Tanya Beauregard resurfacing, having never been this close, or this in love, with a baby before.

For one entire blessed hour, it was just warm silence, that swirling lilac scent all around me as I chatted and told little Naruto stories, rocking him to sleep eventually. Even Hiruzen seemed a little shocked, but not displeased, by my maternal instincts. I say even because I too never suspected I would have any. A part of me wondered if I would react the same way to another baby, but the other part of me knows I wouldn't. I _dislike_ babies. They're loud, fragile, and confusing.

Naruto isn't loud, I smiled at the memory, walking under the cherry blossom tree outside of the orphanage, Naruto is perfect. He's quiet. And he's sweet. He's an innocent baby. Hiruzen told me they would be situating him with me within the week, and even though I knew he was only doing it because he wanted me to be happy out of guilt about the whole ordeal, I appreciated none the less. There was _no_ pretending I wasn't overjoyed with the announcement. I would be able to see and care for Naruto every day. I could teach him so many things. I could get him some real ninja clothes some day, not that neon orange death-outfit that screamed 'kill me first' on a mission. I could even teach him the other languages I knew.

The next time Ichigo made that face at my little brother, I howled, and screamed, like a true two year old. Toddlers and Tiara's worthy tantrum, I'm telling you.

Having never displayed that kind of emotion at the orphanage, you could say she was _shook._ One of her many sisters covered for her the rest of the week. I regretted nothing, rocking little Naruto back and forth, ignoring the paper balls being thrown at my back from the hallway full of disgusting children.

"I love you, Naruto" I say in english, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead.

* * *

 _Later That Evening, Sometime Around Midnight_

ANBU Hound watches from afar as the little Kushina clone snuggles into the window-sill of her brother Naruto's nursery, her face buried in a stack of lined and dirty papers. He would have been suspicious if not for the noticeable trace of the Hokage's chakra signature lingered on the edges of it. Not many two year olds found themselves physically capable of staying up until midnight. He would be lying if he said he didn't find the oddball a little...adorable.

Guilt is a tidal wave that swallows Kakashi whole and spits him back out every day. He can only ever breathe when he's Hound.

Civilian's have began calling him 'Friend-Killer' and Obito's eye weighs heavily on his skull, reminding him of once was, reminding him of what he did, what he was responsible for. Hound only ever allowed himself to be Kakashi when he visited The Memorial Stone. It hurt to much to assume the identity that caused _all_ of his comrades to die.

Every time he wanted to go tell Rin about something, every time he was wounded in combat and needed a medic. Every time he saw an Uchiha who looked just a little too much like Obito. The only blessed thing to have happened in his life, was the birth of his sensei's two little brats. Uzumaki Naruto, named after the character in Jiraiya's book. Uzumaki Kazuko, named for the peace Minato sought to inspire across the nations.

Hound dismissed the thoughts when Naruto began to shriek. Before the lights of the other rooms could even turn on a single soul could wake, he was shocked to see little Kazuko dash across the room with the physical finesse of a Civilian Ballerina. She snatched a step stool out of the darkness with glinting eyes and nearly ripped Naruto out of bed.

As soon as her skin touched the Jinchuriki's, Hound watched Naruto's blue orbs pop open, watering with tears, his crying instantly ceasing. It was like magic. Kazuko began to hum and then mumble words that he truly could not make out, astoundingly, it sounded like gibberish, but it seemed to do the trick.

Within minutes, the tensed muscles in Hound's back relaxed, and with a firm nod, he shushined away. They didn't need him. Kazuko did a fine job her first night with the boy. Ready to forget all the ruin his identity had left him with, ANBU Hound doesn't revisit the orphanage for another two years.

* * *

 **AN** : What did you guys think? Yes she uses nature chakra, but I'm doing my best to write it realistically, I'm not gonna make her a super OP mary sue Uzumaki. Even though I do plan to give her chakra chains. They're too fuckin' cool not too. It all apart of the plan me amiga's. As for her genin team situation, I couldn't figure out my plan for that, but I've decided I'm going to put her on a team with _two other girl ocs,_ and the Sensei Shikaku Nara. I want to make her friends with Neji because since she's a year older than Naruto that's like her class right? Hmm..but I'm not sure how to go about that. Anyway it's all in the works.

Until next time!


	3. Chapter Two

The Kunoichi Who Tried to Save Everyone

Naruto is my little brother, and it doesn't matter how badly I don't want to interfere with the plot, I will destroy anyone who thinks they can harm him. Orochimaru, The Akatsuki, Uchiha Madara. My name is Uzumaki Kazuko, and this is the story of my second life. Self-Insert, AU.

I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto does...for now.

Chapter Two

Caring for Naruto was easier for the sole fact that I wasn't actually a toddler. Not that the height thing didn't KILL. But it also helped that I'd so recently been forced to re-experience infancy. I knew what he was feeling, what he was seeing, what each cry meant, because I'd been forced to endure the same thing. It made my job as his big sister and basically his surrogate mother remarkably easier

I spent most my time either meditating or trying to get Ichigo's sister Akira who happened to be a Jounin of Konoha to teach me something, anything. With Naruto in my arms at all times of course.

Leaving him alone in his nursery was a bust I discovered when I returned there to find _gum_ stuck to his face by the demons inhabiting our home.' It appalled me and made poor little Naruto scream for hours, helpless, confused, upset. I was just glad he wouldn't remember this later on in life.

Everyone hated him. Konoha might as well have slapped the kanji for demon on his forehead.

Living in the hell hole of the orphanage, the only thing left of our parent's, caring for little baby Naruto, while fellow children rub food in his face and hide him from me because they think its funny. Because they hate him. He isn't a baby to them. They themselves are babies and he is a demon that killed a lot of their families, he is the reason a lot of them are there.

It began...to drive me a little _mad._

At four and a half years old, by the time Naruto was three, he was _insanely_ big, only a year under me. Though we were close in age, we differed greatly. I was more mature verbally but he was advancing physically at an superhuman rate.

It seemed this _shortness_ would continue to be a problem. _Sigh._

The older we got, the worse the abuse got. And it spread to _me._ The demon's sister. On nights when the kitchen served tomato's to the orphans, many children took to stealing them and smashing them in my face. To match my hair, of course. I didn't want to be violent. I hated hurting people. To hear someone cry and be the cause of it was...unbearable to me. So while I withheld and didn't react physically, just waiting for them to stop and leave so I could clean myself up and check on my baby brother, my thought's ventured down a _much_ more **violent** path.

No longer, when I glanced outside of the tall kitchen windows, did I lovingly gaze at the busy streets of Konoha. I didn't watch the ninja's in awe darting across rooftops. I stopped asking Akira questions, I stop talking to Ichigo, to everyone. Anyone except Naruto. Who though much less eloquent than me, began speaking with mostly slang and incomplete words, but speaking none the less.

Now that he'd actually began running around, a blonde headed, lanky little tyke, I had even more time to myself. My devotion to meditation over my childhood years was showing results, my chakra was at my control with only a thought, as simple as breathing, a mere reflex. If I had more options, I would have chosen to practice next on my physical attributes, maybe start sparring, but there were no training grounds for orphans, and I wasn't allowed to roam the village at four years old. I settled for pushups and situps and crunches galore. Working on channeling my energy into whatever part of my body I was strengthening that day. I ran up and down the stairs of the orphanage and did pull ups on the rusty pipes in the basement, where no other children roamed thanks to the _massive_ spiders lurking. I'd always loved all animals, finding spiders even, especially the fuzzy ones, to be adorable. I knew well enough that as long as I didn't bother them, I would be left alone.

Naruto watched in awe, and even sometimes attempted to mimic me, but often grew lazy and out of breath, stumbling back to bed and declaring the basement to be kami-forsaken. Even though I knew it would affect canon, I revelled in how attached he was to me. I revelled in how much I loved him. There had never been anyone that cared for me _just_ for who I was. Katie was the closest Tanya had gotten and she was _paid_ to love her. It didn't count. **This** counted. Naruto's love was the real deal.

And there I was with this little blue eyed Minato JR, proclaiming loudly about what a hero his Onee-Chan is. In his innocent eyes, I was just his big sister, aspiring to grow stronger. He never saw the darkness that the matron's of the orphanage _did_. They saw the bags under my eyes. They saw the blood on my knuckles and the beaten down cherry blossom tree outside. They noticed that I spent more time alone, eyes closed, just breathing, than I did even moving. What a strange child, meditating all day everyday, from the age of two? Ichigo regards me with fond but sad looks, as if a loved one lost. Once I began exercising in the basement and ignoring her, I may as well have signed the death declaration of our kinship.

I spent every day thinking about death.

My dad died. My mom died. Hyuuga Neji would die. Jiraiya would die. Sasuke wouldn't die, but he may as well die about _three_ times, considering all the 'Orochimaru' 'Akatsuki' bullshit that makes up the entire adulthood of his ninja life. And plenty more that I couldn't recall because Tanya had been a fickle fan, clinging to favorites, and then jumping ship, and losing track.

I thought about the Chunin exams. And missions. And old man Hiruzen.

That was the first instance in which I experienced _hate_ towards my beloved Konoha.

The village made up of civilians who bullied and turned their noses up at the ninja's of the village, for the most part. Even though those same ninja were raised from childhood to value the life of a citizen above their own. Toddlers and _kids_ turned into emotionally damaged murder machines for _money._ For _power._ For _politics._ For stupid and awful and petty reasons.

And here I was, falling complete prey to the romanticized dangers. Soon, I would be a ninja, just before Naruto would, and soon, I would kill. I knew it then, and I wasn't wrong. Konoha would turn me _and_ my little brother into soldiers and there was nothing I could do except maybe put _so_ much effort into becoming strong that maybe one day I could be _enough_ to leave the village. Maybe get Naruto onto his Hokage path a little early and then become a missing-nin. It would be better than being controlled.

A part of me knew that Naruto would never let that fly, at the time.

When I am six, and Naruto is five, there comes a day when he falls ill. Like.. _really_ ill. That morning I awoke to the sound of weak coughing and hushed whispers of "Onee-Chan" coming from the left of me, where Naruto's own cot lay, having moved from his nursery so a new baby could take his place since he'd grown old enough. I rushed out of bed ripping off my sheet, feet hitting the floor with a _thunk_ uncaringly and raced to his side.

His forehead was hot to touch like _fire-jutsu_ hot, and red like my hair. His stomach looked fine _thank god._ It wasn't a Kurama problem. But it was a problem that Kurama wasn't healing him. Plus, I knew for a fact that Ichigo's family (remember they run the place) would ply me with some **bullshit** about not having medicine or funds for medicine like they had when _I_ got sick not long ago. That's saying something since Ichigo still regarded me with _some_ likeness. Why would they give medicine to the demon baby they hate when they wouldn't give any to me because of pure association?

I survived out of luck and though I was sure Naruto would too, obviously the main character doesn't die from a bed-cold, but still...seeing him writhe and cry for me, sweating was cracking me into pieces. I was weak for emotion, new to it, susceptible to _feelings_ when it came to having a baby brother. I was the only one he had and it was _my_ _ **duty**_ to take care of him to the best of MY ability. Not to the best of the average six year old, but _my_ best. As Tanya and as Kazuko.

I wrapped my arms around his cheeks, rubbing circles with my thumbs soothingly, and whispering sweet nothings in a desperate attempt to relieve his pain, inhaling on reflex and surprising myself as I occasionally did as nature chakra lit up my every sense.

 _Smell._ Naruto's tears, obviously, my own sweat, nothing out of the ordinary.

 _Sight._ His tenketsu were fine, but his chakra was fluctuating around his nose, and his jaw, and his chest, along with other areas in which he'd pointed out to be the source of the pain. Interesting. I didn't know any damn medical jutsu and I had decided I didn't want to. Maybe later in life, but as far as I was concerned, I didn't want to be a support role. I wanted to be a one-hit, powerful, behind your back strike to the spinal cord kind of ninja. Ending fights before they start. However, in that moment, I would have killed for a medical textbook.

 _Hearing._ The ragged breaths coming from Naruto, small, and far apart. The snores of the other orphanage inhabitants, since it was sometime after dawn, the sun just barely having arrived in the sky.

 _Touch_. Naruto's body _scathed_ me as soon as I attempted it this time.

Immediately, I exhaled, abandoning the chakra I'd gripped and backing up from my little brother to regain my bearings. Note to self, don't do your _thingy_ when Naruto isn't in a good state of mind. What was I going to do? Panic began seizing me. What would any average six year old orphan girl do with no money and no medicine when her brother falls ill?

* * *

 _Just pretend it's a stealth mission training for when you're a ninja_ I told myself _if you can't steal from a simple civilian you aren't a real shinobi._

It took around twenty minutes to sneak out, climb down the side of the orphanage using sticky chakra-coated hands, and run around the merchant shops searching for the perfect place. Eventually, I came across a medicinal _cart_ with one single man in ownership. It was my best bet at acquiring something to aid Naruto without getting myself arrested and without spending any money.

I didn't want to go to Hiruzen. I wouldn't go to Hiruzen. I believed in myself to handle it on my own. He went _out of his way_ to cut us out of his lives by placing us in an orphanage. I would never truly trust him, even if he wasn't the worst company in Konoha. Even if he was the dreaded Hokage himself.

A part of me knew it was bad that the thought of his upcoming death cheered me up. But anyone could see Tsunade was a much better Hokage than the traditional and somewhat blinded old-man parading around.

If Hiruzen wasn't there for me when kids were pummeling me with tomatoes and breaking my teeth into the dirt, I didn't want him to be there for me then either. _Naruto is my little brother. I got it under control._

With that last thought, I decided to do what I did as Tanya, and just act as if I was supposed to be walking up and taking the medicine. The man had taken a break to smoke a cigarette, so I stepped forward, quickly, calmly, my face smiling, eyes resting sleepily ahead, looking like your average if-not just slightly crazy haired little girl. Not a single passerby couple or Chunin shot me a second look as I blindly filled my overalls with whatever my growing hands could get out of the cart.

"Hey!" The enraged shout two feet from me startled me and I took off like a speeding bullet, the words he further shouted at me falling on deaf ears. I darted in alley's with pockets clunking with the stolen goods. An irrational fear had then began to fill me as I pictured nearby ANBU and Chunin chasing after the thief they came across on the street's, and to make it harder in case I was being tailed, I set my sights on the side of a particularly tall set of apartments.

I made it onto the roof wall-running up vertically in a way that made me struggle to keep the medicine in my pockets, chakra draining rapidly, but also restocking itself just as fast. Being an Uzumaki had many perks, after all.

"What do you think you're doing?"

I spun around quck, cheeks puffing out, fists automatically raised in preparation should I be in for a fight. The _second_ I registered who had chased after me, I dropped my hands, arms becoming noodles, a look of pure deadpan on my face.

He was around seven or eight and a chunin, if I was to guess, since I had no clue about his and Naruto's age difference and that was what I based all my knowledge off of, Naruto. He was the main character after all. Luckily, the person before me was about my height so it just proved to me that my Otouto had sprouted from his genes and demonic er... _advancements._

Uchiha Itachi, just before graduating and joining ANBU it appeared, had caught me stealing medicine from a merchant's cart.

The question was...was I going to let him stop me from helping Naruto?

The image of his frail, sickly, bedridden form being terrorized by the other orphanage children while I was preoccupied on that roof had unsettled my stomach in that moment. I didn't have time to screw around with the Clan Heir but that was just it, there wasn't any _screwing_ around Itachi. I knew well enough if I'd attempted to flee, he would have tailed me all the way to the orphanage and make everything a hundred times worse.

He had a little brother of his own though…one he cared for greatly. _That_ was the angle I could, I would, work.

"If you must know" I spit on the cement as if to display just how un-ladylike I could be to Itachi who's brow only raised an inch "I have a _very sick_ Otouto at home in desperate need of medicine."

He tilted his head then, as if that meant nothing to him, and I swallowed. _Hard._

* * *

 **AN** : Oh shit, oh shit, it's Itachi! I'm such a little shit for ending this chapter right here, but I wanna see what your guys' guesses are so to how Kazuko is going to handle this sticky situation. There's no way she can stand against Itachi? Or is there a way she could? Hmmm? Who knows? **Calcu22** who always reviews and is always a delight, shoutout to you for your idea of having her be rivals with Neji! Which I _may_ roll with unless I come up with something I like better within the next day or two, which I doubt I will.

A big thank you to any/all reviewers! What would _you_ do if Naruto was your kid brother and the orphanage wouldn't get him the medicine he needs?

 **Also** I'm already writing this and Shi No Hana, A Sakura Sisfic, but depending on if any of you guys like the idea, I may write a **gai!twin-fic** where a woman is reincarnated as his twin sister, and a **life is strange** oc fic. Just in case any readers are interested ;)

Until next time!


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